Running to the bathroom, calling out, "I'll be down in a minute," I grabbed my crotch without thinking about it. If I could have seen myself, I would have thought that I resembled my sister or one of her friends when they had to go really bad.
Pulling my pants and underwear down around my ankles, I sat down on the toilet seat and released my bladder. It was only as I was finishing up, that I realized what I was doing. Telling myself over and over, "I am a fifteen year old boy, I pee standing up," I pulled up the panties I'd borrowed from my sister and then my pants. To keep them on, it took at least six of the holes in it.
Rushing downstairs, ignoring my sister, I asked mom, "What's for dinner?"
She handed me a burger and fries from the local burger restaurant. As I ate, my sister finished her meal and disappeared. She returned shortly with a doll and I could feel my mind slipping. Shaking my head, I heard her ask me, "Would you like to play dollies Marcus?"
Putting down my sandwich, I looked at her, forcing myself to focus on the fact that that what she wanted was not normal. Looking at her, I replied, "I have homework to do."
Seeing the hurt look on her face, I hastily grabbed the last bit of my meal and mumbled something like, "Maybe later," and dashed up to my room. Inside, I sat down at the desk and instead of opening my math book, I instead opened the desk drawer and began looking through it.
"My problems first started around the time that the amulet showed up." I reasoned. But as I looked through the desk, I couldn't find it anywhere.
Closing the drawer, I tried to remember if I placed it anywhere else. My thoughts then turned to the possibility that maybe Katherine took it. Knowing that she knew to keep out of my room, even if she sometimes never listened, I decided to do my math homework instead.
Finishing dinner, I threw the wrapper into a pink and white metal trash bin. Opening the book, I started to work on it. An hour later, I slammed the book closed in frustration. In the time that I started, I'd gotten not one problem done. I didn't know why, but for some reason I could not do Junior High level math. Trying to clear my head, I tried some basic addition, but stopped when I realized that I was counting off on my fingers; something I hadn't down since about the third grade.
Bothered by this, I choose to work on the rest of my homework since the math wasn't due until Monday. The only other assignments I had to do was Social Studies, something that was completely lost on me to begin with, and and English assignment, also due Monday.
Around nine thirty my mom came in and asked me, "How's it going?"
Setting down my pencil, brushing a strand of brown out of my face, I replied in earnest, "Not very well."
Kissing the top of my head, I suddenly wanted to crawl into her arms and be comforted by her. Shaking my head, I heard say, "It hasn't been easy on any of us lately. But keep your chin up. It will only get better."
Not sure what to say, I instead told her, "I'm kind of tired. I think I'll go to bed early."
Kissing me again, she bid me goodnight and left my room. After she had left, I stripped and looking at the Hello Kitty panties I was wearing, sighed and put on my pajamas before my mind could go on another fantastic journey. Switching off the light, I crawled between the covers and nearly screamed when I found somebody there and they weren't moving.
Jumping up, I turned on the light and seeing the doll lying on my bed, I huffed in frustration. Taking the doll, I tossed it into my closet, on top of the ballerina costume I had worn earlier that afternoon. Closing the closet, I turned the light back off and climbed back into bed.
Laying in the dark, wondering still what was happening to me, I drifted off to sleep, still having no answers to why my mind sometimes wandered and why I sometimes wanted to do girlish things.
In the morning, I was woken up by the alarm. Looking at the clock, I realized that I still couldn't read numbers very well. Shaking my head, seeing no improvement, I got up and feeling somewhat clear headed, except for my numeral problem, I dressed in my normal pair of boxers, a pair of pants that were to big, a baggy shirt and pulled on belt to hold up my pants.
Opening the closet to dump my pajamas into the still overflowing hamper, I stopped when I saw that the doll and the costume were missing. Bothered that someone had took them, I threw my clothes into the hamper and told myself, "No one took them. You would have heard someone come into your room if they did. Maybe it was all a dream anyway?"
Looking into the full body mirror, seeing my nine year old body reflected back, I adjusting my belt, grabbed my homework, stuffed it and the books into my backpack and raced downstairs to get breakfast and head for school; hoping I wouldn't say or do anything weird today.